In a forest in southern Chile, a giant tree has survived for thousands of years and is in the process of being recognized as the oldest in the world.
Known as the "Great Grandfather", this tree is not only a living witness of history but also a source of scientific information that could shed light on how the planet has adapted to climatic changes.
A Survivor of Time and Threats
The Great Grandfather is a Fitzroya cupressoides, a type of cypress tree that is endemic to the south of the continent.
It measures four meters (13 feet) in diameter and 28 meters tall. It is believed to be more than 5,000 years old, which would make it older than Methuselah, a 4,850-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine found in California in the United States, which is currently the oldest tree on record.
"It's a survivor, there are no others that have had the opportunity to live so long," said Antonio Lara, a researcher at Austral University and Chile's Center for climate science and Resilience, who is part of the team measuring the tree's age, as per NewsVision.
The Great Grandfather lies on the edge of a ravine in a forest in the southern Los Rios region, 800 kilometers (500 miles) to the south of the capital Santiago.
It lives alongside other tree species, such as coigue, plum pine, and tepa, as well as animals such as Darwin's frogs, lizards, and birds such as the chucao tapaculo and Chilean hawk.
For centuries, its thick trunk has been chopped down to build houses and ships, and it was heavily logged during the 19th and 20th centuries2.
Due to its growing fame, the national forestry body has had to increase the number of park rangers and restrict access to protect the Great Grandfather. By contrast, the exact location of Methuselah is kept a secret.
Also Read: New World's Oldest Tree Beats 4,853-Year-Old Record Holder
A Treasure of Knowledge
The Great Grandfather is not only a symbol of longevity and resilience but also a treasure of knowledge. Its trunk is believed to contain scientific information that could reveal how the planet has adapted to climatic changes over millennia.
Jonathan Barichivich, a scientist who grew up playing among the Fitzroya and is now studying the species, said that "the tree rings are like pages in a book that tell us about past climates," as per NewAge.
He explained that by analyzing the width and density of the rings, researchers can reconstruct temperature and precipitation patterns over time.
In 2020, Barichivich and Lara managed to extract a sample from the Great Grandfather using the longest manual drill that exists, but they did not reach the center.
They estimated that their sample was 2,400 years old and used a predictive model to calculate the full age of the tree.
Barichivich said that "80 percent of the possible trajectories show the tree would be 5,000 years old." He hopes to soon publish the results, as per Phys.org.
The study has created excitement within the scientific community given that dendrochronology - the method of dating tree rings to when they were formed - is less accurate when it comes to older trees as many have a rotten core.
If confirmed, the Great Grandfather would be a unique record of environmental changes that could help scientists understand how ecosystems respond to global warming.
The Great Grandfather is not only an ancient wonder of nature but also a valuable ally for humanity in facing the challenges of the future.
Related article: Interesting Facts About the 5 Tallest and Oldest Trees in the World